Moving Right Along...

So, we decided to pack up our belongings & move across the country & we couldn't be happier! It's something we've thought about doing for awhile, but somehow, it always found a way of getting put off. At the beginning of this year, a good friend of ours got very sick out of nowhere, was hospitalized & nearly died. It was terrifying. It was sobering & enough to really put things into perspective. You can't wait till tomorrow to live the life you want because tomorrow may never come. While that is something we've always believed to be true, it isn't always something we've acted on. We had a sort of now or never moment and here we are! Of course, we miss our loved ones, but we've been in touch daily, plan on going home for a visit at Christmas & we already have a visitor coming to stay with us next month!

We covered over 2,000 miles with a 3 year old in tow via The Empire Builder, an Amtrak train. It was quite the adventure and littlemaneel really seemed to enjoy it & did exceptionally well on our 2 day journey across the country. When we weren't running up and down the cars, looking out the windows in the viewing car or cuddled up reading books, we relied on Mr. Potato Head, puzzles, drawing utensils and iPad apps such as Wee Alphas, Toca Boca & the many Dr. Seuss interactive books to pass the time.

The cracker and cheese tray was definitely our favorite option from the snack car. It complimented the fresh fruit we had brought along with us. That was a big plus with taking Amtrak, we were allowed to bring lots of things we normally wouldn't have had we flown. This was our first long distance trip via train and so while we did have Mediterranean orzo and chicken curry salad [part of a delicious spread brought to us by our lovely friends who met us at Union Station], we didn't bring anything to store it in and it all had to be eaten within the first few hours of our trip. We then relied on the dried snacks, peanut butter sandwiches and the fresh fruit we packed. When we travel back east to visit, we are definitely going to bring a cooler. That way, we can make our own cheese trays, keep our salads longer and avoid the overpriced snack car all together.

Lots of good views from the train. Neither papaeel nor I had been to Montana before and found the big sky there to be rather beautiful.

We arrived exhausted, but ever excited to have finally made it to our destination. We were ready to eat a healthy warm meal and explore on foot. This city is very bike friendly, so before moving we had decided to give up our 4 wheel way of life and embrace a body powered 2 wheeled one. We had okay cruisers back home, but decided to leave them and take our chances on craigslist upon arrival. We were successful in finding good condition commuter bikes at reasonable prices. We've had the good fortune of time to adapt to riding miles on our bicycles everyday. We are truly embracing the city life and are loving it!

[worry not, we've since acquired proper baskets for grocery lugging]

We've been lucky enough to have a whole month to get to know the city side by side as we've hunted for jobs & enrolled in school. We've so enjoyed being able to spend every single day together without any real obligations. We've made a point to take in the sites, go for long strolls in the rain, play at the park for hours, craft, make art with littlemaneel, cook & share delicious meals as we explored & have gotten acclimated to the city. Time well spent, that we are are ever grateful for.

We look forward to sharing our west coast adventures with you. There are still moments where we find we're pinching ourselves because we can't believe we are actually here. We feel that we've made the right decision and the universe must agree, because things just seem to be working out in our favor. All I can say is, if there is something you've always wanted to do in this one chance at life you get, don't put it off! The mundaneness of everyday life will trudge on & you'll find it's harder to get off the wheel. As crazy as it may seem at the time, follow your dream and good things will happen. Or better yet, in the words of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, "Don't dream it. Be it."

Until next time, mamaeel

Candy-O, I need you so...

Did you survive Halloween? We had a good time partying it up the weekend before, but I'm always left wanting more, especially when it falls on a weeknight. I love Halloween, but we are those, "weird parents" who don't really eat or give our 2 year old candy, so that pretty much leaves us with nothing to do but carve pumpkins on the holiday itself. While our community has a few cool events we go to, they are always the weekend before & the older littlemaneel gets, the more weary I grow of the confused, sometimes dirty looks we get from the dressed up attendants when we refuse the candy. Look folks, I'm sure there will come a day when our child will eat some candy, ok. All we are saying is, he's 2 & he's got the rest of his life to eat candy. If it makes you feel better, we do allow him to eat fair trade, organic dark chocolate chips from time to time. Long story short, as soon as littlemaneel is old enough, I think we'll start hosting Halloween parties on the night of Halloween (don't go thinking they'd be lame-I'm talking bonfires, bobbing for apples, hot cider, smores & more)! Here he is in his, "mom's original idea was way too involved, so at the last minute she cranked this one out" T-Rex costume. 

So Halloween has come & gone & now we're less than 2 weeks away from Thanksgiving! We're lucky enough to have gotten our goods into a great new local shop & our stuff has actually been selling rather well! With two weeks away & counting from Small Business Saturday (& Black Friday), we've been steadily building & restocking inventory. Check out our new Fancy Little Pillows...

Ok, so it hasn't all been profit based crafting. Here's a t-shirt I just had to make for littlemaneel. While it isn't for sale, I suppose it could be. 

I am being beckoned as there are lots of things that still must be sewn, cut & glued this weekend, so I must go. Until next time!

i'm more at home in my galaxie......

happy friday folks! halloween is fast approaching & i am rushing to finish costumes. worked on mine last night & produced these galaxy pants for my meteor costume. a friend is having a halloween party with a "vs" theme. i've known since february of this year that littlemaneel would have to be a dinosaur for halloween because of his ever-growing love of them. after being invited to this party, papaeel & i thought about what the ultimate dinosaur vs match would be & decided on a meteor. gotta get back to making, hope all your halloween crafting is done or coming along!

here's the link to the leggings that inspired mine. i tweaked it a bit, but you'll get the gist!

http://vintageedge.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/diy-galaxy-leggings/

heroes & villians...

99 cent splurge at goodwill. i couldn't resist.

hey mama wolf.....

fridays are pretty great because i get to spend the whole day with littlemaneel. we make the most of the time he is awake & i make the most of the time he is asleep (yes, he still naps-thank goodness). today, i introduced him to one of my favorites from my childhood. he's gonna need his own record player soon. still searching for that perfect vintage portable one (whatever happened to my old one???)....

dedicating some craft time to myself today. i found this shirt while rummaging at a church sale & considered cutting it up to make multiple usamimi's as the material is perfect for those, but i just love the pattern too much & have decided to keep it for myself. it's a little big, so my first sewing project of the day is to make it fit! and then i'll give the rest of my time to the stack of work's in progress....

i'll be sure to post pics of the outcome. wish me luck!

making time...

i don't know about you, but i am forever running out of time! between working & everyday tasks, it's hard to get stuff to sell made! well, unless you give up sleep & that just can't happen. i need all the energy i can get! toddlers require a ready-to-go parent at all times! 

papaeel & i were able to allocate a few hours last week to punching out & stamping over 100 picks (we were only able to sand about a dozen). we found perfect sized pick bags at our local crafty store & papaeel has been working on packaging design. here are a few of my favorite picks...

i put the stamps that have been acquiring dust in my craft closet to work. the wood grain one hasn't seen the light of day since making our wedding invitations & that was in 2007! i love those & the fortune teller ones. i inked the stamp (StazOn is a fast drying solvent ink that will adhere to plastic), placed it ink side up on the table, then placed the picks on where i wanted. i think these will make for nice & unique pick sets. 

one of my life-long friends is pregnant with twins. they were a beautiful & happy family of 3, but they decided to try one more time as she's always wanted a little girl. well, they're getting their girl alright-and times two!! i always get excited to make girly things & this time i got to go twice as girly! i decided i'd make her a twin-sized tummy time mat. i remember wanting one for littlemaneel when he was babyeel & after seeing one a friend had, i knew i could make a decent version myself & for under the $40 i saw most going for. the end result was perfect & i've gone on to make many for friends & family. this was my first, "double-wide." here it is all sprawled out.

a close up of the pillow & the crinkly chew toy i made. 

& here it is, all rolled up & ready to travel!

of course i had to make headbands! i've made & sold bow tie headbands, but these were a little different as they would be worn by newborns. i used FOE(fold over elastic) usually found with PUL fabric & used in diaper making. it's soft elastic & wouldn't squeeze too tightly on a little head. i had a bit left over & put it to good use. i had to package them up, they were so cute!

here are two i made to match the onesies i made them. they are simple floral headbands made from a small piece of purple knit i had lying around. again, knit is a good fabric for baby headbands, cause it won't squash the brain!

last but not least, the onesies. "who's who?" for twin girls. we are super excited to meet these little bundles of joy! littlemaneel just loves babies!

about the movies....

papa & i actually went out ALONE! it was so weird, but good too. littlemaneel had a blast getting smoothies & then shooting hoops at chuck e cheese with two fun-loving gals, but was ready for mama by the time the movie was over. i was ready for him too.

the last movie papaeel & i went to (pre-littlemaneel) was fantastic mr. fox, so it was fitting that the first movie we saw sans child (& in nearly 3 years) was moonrise kingdom. come to think of it, our first date movie was the royal tennenbaums..... obviously we're huge wes anderson fans & after having to wait over a month after it's initial release in select cities, it finally made it to our town! first adult movie in a theatre in 3 years & we were not disappointed! if it's made it to your town & you haven't yet, make a point to see it. the man will see that all of your visual needs are met. i liked the move to the outdoors & the adorable & mischievous sam shukusky. he reminded me of a young sean lennon. bill murray always sweetens the deal too...